At one of the entrances to the Sochi Olympic Park, where the XXII Winter
Games took place in 2014, is an amusement park. Apparently, it is there to
attract children, except the park is closed. In the shadow of the park is a
castle similar to Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle in Anaheim, California.
It is comparable to King Ludwig's Castle of Bavaria. The Olympic castle, with
the snow-capped Caucasus Mountains in the background, welcomes you with its
Disney-like charm near the main trucking entrance to the park. At this
entrance, incoming semi-trailer trucks are scanned for radioactive explosives
and dirty bombs. Occasionally, a homeless dog ambles by, looking for something
to eat, while the diegetic music of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake plays in the
background over strategically placed loudspeakers.
When night falls, the castle is illuminated by multicolored floodlights,
which change from blue to green to red. This mixture of a Disney fantasy and a
deserted amusement park lies across the street from the stealthy security
agency, FSB, or Federal Security Service. Welcome to Putin's Olympics.
These are the first winter Olympics in Russia, and they attracted
considerable media attention since Sochi was chosen as the site for the games
in July 2007, beating out Salzburg, Austria, and Pyeongchang, South Korea
(IOC). Celebrated and lamented by both Russian and Western media, this Olympic
media spectacle continues to create controversy as millions of dollars have
allegedly been spent on corrupt officials and Olympic contractors. There was
also the continued underlying threat of terrorism from Doku Umarov, leader of a
Muslim separatist group in Caucasus Emirate. (He has since been killed by the
Russian authorities two weeks after the Sochi closing ceremonies.) In addition,
Russian antigay policies against its citizens and Olympic athletes have emerged
as another distraction from Putin’s extravagant celebration of Russian
nationalism.
Sochi is not the only host city that was in the midst of
controversy. Beijing was selected for the Summer Olympics in 2008, and during
that time, attention was focused on China's human rights' issues and the Falun
Gong group. The Chinese government identified Falun Gong as a threat to
political and social stability. In 1992, Li Honghzi founded the Falun Gong in
northeastern China. Falun Gong followers practice meditative and slow-motion
exercises and adhere to ideas from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism (Liu 8).
In October 2000, the Chinese government increased efforts to destroy the Falun
Gong by pronouncing the group to be a "reactionary and hostile"
organization. As a result, by April 2001, as many as 830,000 Falun Gong
followers had been arrested (Liu 9). Also, in 2001, there were many complaints
to the International Olympic Committee concerning China's treatment of Falun
Gong. The protests were so intense that the International Olympic Committee's
fax machines had to be shut down due to the number of faxes being sent
(Brownell 1).
Such repression of human rights by authoritarian governments
undeniably curbs viewers' enthusiasm regarding the spectacle of the Olympic
presentation. NBC has paid $775 million for the rights to the Sochi Olympics;
they must portray these Olympic events as non-controversial, politically
correct, and pleasantly entertaining for the NBC family of broadcast, cable and
interactive audiences. This will be very difficult if an undesirable event
occurs during the seventeen days of the Winter Olympics. The problem, which NBC
faces, is that its brand is entwined with the Olympics. NBC is the Olympic
network, broadcasting every Summer and Winter Olympics Games since the 2000
games in Sydney, Australia, and until the summer games in Tokyo in 2020.
Unquestionably, American audiences see the Olympics as being a part of
NBC, which is exactly the goal of NBC's marketing and branding efforts.
Unfortunately for NBC, if something does go dreadfully wrong in some unexpected
way, NBC could be held accountable, due to the repressive governments that the
network supports with its rights dollars and the amount of publicity and
excitement they have generated for the upcoming winter games through their own
social networks, cable channels and broadcast networks.
Many journalists and media professionals were warned in
advance about a number of critical safety issues at the Winter Olympics;
medical facilities in Russia were not up to Western standards, and individuals
should be prepared to provide their own prescription medications in case of an
emergency. Drinking water was not potable in Sochi; subsequently; it was
requested only to drink bottled water. NBC security detail advised that travel
should be restricted to the town of Adler--where the Olympic park is
located--and warned media personnel not to travel to the seaside resort town of
Sochi, thirty minutes north of Adler. It was advised to not travel alone,
always have a colleague when leaving and returning to your accommodations, and
always carry your cell phone in case of an emergency. Additionally, the US
Department of State issued a travel alert for any US citizens traveling to
Sochi, Russia, for the Winter Olympic Games.
With medical care, terrorism, and gay rights all of concern,
disregarding these alerts could be dangerous. Under these kinds of conditions,
many negative aspects in Sochi could influence editorial decisions not just for
NBC, but also for the press in general. It seems that a number of ad-hoc news
sports reporters glossed over the threatening issues in Sochi and created a
narrative on how much fun and how friendly Sochi is. For example, Sean Mooney's
reports from Sochi for KVOA Television in Tucson, Arizona, made light of the
fact that he has been warned by NBC of viable terrorist threats in Sochi.
Mooney shows images of children playing in a park and interviews a Russian
woman and two Dutch tourists who have a sense of safety and well-being in
Russia as well as Sochi (Mooney). Simply stated, these interviews were a
superficial "man on the street" style, without any investigated depth
in questions or answers.
This narrative was also on display at the network level.
NBC's pre-Olympic program "Olympic Zone Show" also sustained the
narrative by exhibiting the simpler, more carefree side of the games with
charming interviews, colorful fast paced images and upbeat techno music. Thus,
it catered to the NBC sports narrative of sports entertainment rather than
sports investigative reporting, demonstrating to the audiences that all is safe
and harmonious in Sochi. However, there was at least one publicized terror
threat to the Sochi Olympics; two so-called "black widow" Muslim
women were believed to be planning suicide bomb attacks on the final stages of
the Olympic torch relay entering Sochi. Wanted posters were placed at security
checkpoints entering the Olympic park, prompting fears that Russia's Olympic
security plans had been compromised and the "black widows" had
breached the "ring of steel" surrounding Sochi. Both the term
"black widow" and the term "ring of steel" were used
continually by the news media (Engle). The expression "black widow"
was used for the female terrorist suspects because the women were seeking to
avenge the deaths of their husbands by Russian forces. The "ring of
steel" term originates from the security improvements around major
financial districts in London after the IRA detonated a van packed with
explosives on April 10, 1992, close to the Baltic Exchange in the City of
London (Richards, 66). Both of these representations were used exclusively
during the Winter Olympics by many media outlets, who also ratcheted up the use
of military metaphors before the Olympics began; this increased the insecurity
of NBC's target audience in the US.
However, NBC's Olympics coverage had no intention of
presenting the underbelly of the Sochi Olympics. NBC is not a news organization
or an investigating arm of its parent company, Comcast, but a sports reporting
entity interested in journalism that focuses on sporting events and their
outcomes. NBC is not interested in letting Russian politics and Putin's regime
interfere with their sports coverage and artistic interpretation of the sports
spectacle. NBC believes the Olympics are bigger than any single sporting event
and wish to present material that is interesting to a broad audience. However, they
are prepared to present issues of news interest, if they surface. For example,
Bob Costas interviewed Thomas Bach, the newly elected IOC President. Costas
asked a number of incisive and meaningful questions concerning Bach's
statements, apparently directed to those who might engage in terrorism, during
his opening ceremony speech at the open-air Fisht Olympic Stadium: "Please
respect their Olympic message of goodwill, of tolerance, of excellence and of
peace. Have the courage to address your disagreements in a peaceful, direct
political dialogue and not on the backs of the athletes". Costas also
argued and energetically interjected statements, which supported President
Obama's disapproval of Putin's anti-gay policy. President Obama did not attend
the games, but sent two openly gay athletes--tennis great Billie Jean King and
two-time Olympic hockey medalist Caitlin Cahow--essentially thumbing his nose
at Putin. Costas's pointed questions for the IOC president did show
assertiveness on his part and stated that there was more at stake at the Sochi
Olympics for NBC than covering an Olympic sporting event.
Although NBC Olympics wanted to convey a positive persona
concerning the Winter Games, Russian governmental news agencies like PRAVDA
have written critical articles concerning some editorial decisions NBC made
regarding the Opening ceremonies. One PRAVDA article states, "The words of
gratitude to the Russian Federation and the organizers of the Sochi Games from
the head of the IOC, Thomas Bach, were deleted entirely" (Pravda). Jim
Bell, NBC Executive Producer, responded, "It was a very long speech.
Inevitably, we made some edits to make the show fit, and inevitably, there will
be somebody whose nose will get out of joint about whatever it is"
(Mickle). Granted, the whole Thomas Bach speech was not broadcast, as well as
the entire opening ceremonies on NBC.
Following the close of the opening ceremonies, the staff had
just a few precious hours to edit down a four-hour program. These segments
needed to follow a linear path, tell a story, and fill a time constraint.
It's a very difficult job to turn these edited segments around in a short
amount of time. Considering the pressures involved in the Olympic broadcasts
with 31.7 million viewers, occasionally a scene gets omitted in the heat of
battle and lands on the cutting room floor (Patten).
PRAVDA was not the only faction who was critical of
NBC's Olympic coverage; apparently, up to 14,000 #NBCFail negative tweets were
counted by the social-analytics site Topsy. Most viewers' complaints were
similar to the complaints made during from the Summer Olympic games in London.
Viewers were annoyed they couldn't watch Sochi programming live and content
online was not free. NBC's Live Extra online service required an account with
an existing cable/satellite provider and a specific cable package (Radia). Even
though NBC Universal offered live coverage of the entire one thousand hours and
ninety-two events of men's and women's hockey, bobsledding, Nordic combined,
cross-country skiing, speed skating, and ski jumping; however, many viewers
were still disappointed in the amount of specific coverage and the number of
commercials. Some viewers went so far as to set-up their own virtual private
network--and pay a monthly fee of twelve dollars--to buy a Canadian IP address
in order to watch an additional fifteen hundred hours of CBC online coverage
not available in the US.
Granted, NBC could have elected to show the entire opening
ceremonies and other "A Grade" venues live on their cable sports
distribution outlet NBCSN, but instead chose the tape delay option on the NBC
broadcast network. With a nine to eleven hour time difference in the US,
the opening ceremonies would have been cablecast late Friday morning--not a viable
option for a prime time slot on commercial television. Other countries who
bought the broadcast rights for the Sochi Olympics were non-commercial
broadcast entities (like Canada's CBC and the United Kingdom's BBC) are not
dependent on commercial sponsors and high ratings. For NBC and its
stockholders, revenue dollars have exceeded expectations at the Sochi Olympics.
During the first six nights, more than 140 million Americans watched Olympic
content across a number of platforms (Seldman). Through prime time, cable, late
night, and weekend viewership, and social-media delivery systems, audiences
have witnessed live and taped events in record numbers.
The challenge for NBC programmers is to include and
distribute content that has occurred and is occurring. This mixture of
programming shown in its entirety with edited and condensed segments takes
considerable planning. The networks have thrown aside past practices of not
revealing race results since audiences now have many choices for their IP and
video delivery systems that can receive event results in real time.
Essentially, the goal of NBC Olympics is to portray the athletes in Sochi as
individuals who represent nationalism, patriotism, and individual athleticism
on a world stage. The Olympic competitor must endure personal sacrifice in
order to achieve the ranking and status to be an Olympian. In addition, each
athlete has a story of personal struggle with family, friends and self to
achieve this coveted accolade. For example, NBC Olympics has painstakingly produced
a number of high quality profiles. These biographies incorporated the latest in
high definition video filming and editing technology to enhance each athlete’s
story. Future and present Olympians were profiled in short, documentary style
segments, which were intermixed within the Olympic competition segments.
Respectively, each profile carefully portrays the athlete as a devotee to their
respected sport. Nothing physically or mentally stands in the way for their
ultimate goal--achieving a gold medal.
Alex Bilodeau, who earned a Gold Medal in Freestyle Skiing
Men's Moguls for Canada in Sochi, is no exception. Bilodeau's portrayal by
NBC's producers included his role as a teacher, a dedicated competitor and his
love and appreciation of his older brother, Fredrick Bilodeau. Fredrick has
cerebral palsy, which has impaired his physical movements since he was young.
Fredrick's disability is an inspiration for Alex. His courage, determination
and outlook guide Alex through the ultimate challenges of Olympic pursuit and
family unity. Granted, this compassionate profile is similar to other past
profiles NBC has produced, which have dealt with medical issues concerning the
athlete and their family; however, this particular narrative sheds an
unquestionable emotional sobriety with the Bilodeau family and their emotional
dependence on one another in a time of questionable security concerns at the
Sochi winter games. Indeed, NBC Olympics wants to demonstrate a better side of
Russia: the picturesque Russia of a cultured background, love of the outdoors
and spirited competition and of making and drinking vodka as a drink of
significant cultural relevance. This is the Russia that has accomplished the
supposedly impossible dream of creating an Olympic venue of spectacular size
and grandeur.
NBC Olympics Mary Carillo's “Art on Ice” explains and
demonstrates the brilliance and artistry of ice-skating in Russia, which has
been in the soul of Russia for the past 300 years. With dramatic close-ups
detailing the grace of Russian figure skaters in constant motion, Tamara
Moskvina has been part of the ice-skating world with the Russian Federation for
more than 50 years. Moskvina explains why Russian ballet dancers are so
inextricably intertwined with the training of Russian skaters. Indeed, the
skaters rely on ballet by studying the art and performance of dancers from the
famed Bolshi Academy. By traveling to the Mariinsky Theater, Carillo shows the
commitment, integrity, and overall seriousness NBC uses to present this art
form on ice as being an integral part of Russian history and culture. This
dedication to ballet is not present in other Western countries to the scale and
commitment as seen in the Russian Federation. As such, the art form of
ice-skating has survived both political and cultural upheaval under Czarist and
Communist rule. Its artistic legacy has thusly been validated as it has thrived
under internal pressure in a sometimes-volatile republic.
Figure skating was first introduced at the 1908 Summer
Olympics in London; 16 years year later, it was included in the first Winter
Olympics in Chamonix, Switzerland. Since the 1972 Winter Olympics, figure
skating has been a prominent media event for NBC. Traditionally, in prime time,
Tom Hammond and Scott Hamilton have been the customary color commentators, but
in Sochi, NBC introduced an innovative pair of commentators, Tara Lipinski and
Johnny Weir. At the age of 15, Lipinski won the ladies' singles Olympics gold
medal in figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. Weir, in 2008,
won the World bronze medal in Gothenburg, Sweden. Both of these younger,
energetic commentators brought a new flair of enlightenment to this Olympic
sport and also a new subtle narrative, which was beginning to emerge through
NBC's sleight of hand in editorializing on Russian politics. Weir is openly
gay; he is not only gay but rather flamboyantly gay in his appearance. He wears
makeup, lipstick, and effeminate jewelry, not the usual attire for a network
broadcaster. In some instances, television spectators would watch the Olympic
coverage just to see what Weir was wearing on that broadcast day (Armour).
Intentional or not, NBC's decision to use Weir was an additional way of
demonstrating disdain and contempt for the anti-gay atmosphere in Russia. While
Weir is openly gay, he did not use NBC as a platform for LGBT issues, which did
enrage some members of the LGBT community. But as NBC has said in the past,
"As we've previously stated, NBC will cover all newsworthy issues as they
are relevant to the Games, including the LGBT law" (Morabito).
Also, uncharacteristic at the Sochi Olympics are cultural
events--such as ballet and musical performances--were absent in Sochi and
Adler. Usually, the host city provides a variety of dance, art and public recitals,
which create an artistic ambience, intermixed with the athleticism and
excitement of the Olympic events. The games, as one academic from Southern
Federal University clearly stated in 2007, "...the organizers of the event
in Russia aim at showing the individuality and uniqueness of the
country..." and "...the objective is to position the city of Sochi as
the center of cultural life..." (Barabanova, 48). Clearly, with the
absence of many social events and other major obstacles Sochi experienced, a
question many have asked is, why was Sochi selected in the competition over a
UNESCO World Heritage site similar to Salzburg, Austria? Salzburg ranked first
in nine of the eleven categories and was considered the favorite to win the bid
for the 2014 Winter Olympics (Baylor). Also, Salzburg could have offered a true
cultural experience for the athletes and spectators. The birthplace of Mozart
and the annual Salzburg Music Festival could have highlighted and enriched the
Olympic spectacle.
Many people believe Sochi was chosen through the shear
personal strength and force of Vladimir Putin. Putin delivered an impassioned
speech to the International Olympic Committee on behalf of his country's 2014
Winter Olympics bid. Putin spoke in three languages, including English, which
he rarely does in public (Sullivan). He also bought a house in Guatemala City
for just two day's lodging and then had 120 builders and technicians render it
secure for privately entertaining IOC members following his arrival (Miller).
Also, to impress the Olympic community further, the world's largest cargo
jet flew in 150 tons of equipment to create an ice rink in this sub-tropical
city on which Olympic figure skating champion, Yevgeny Plushenko, could exhibit
his skating skills (Miller). (Plushenko, a four-time Olympic Gold medalist, won
a gold medal in the team competition in Sochi, but later pulled out of the
men's single event due to a back injury).
Another question remains: what does Putin have to gain
during this event as a world leader? The Sochi Olympics and its legacy
are inextricably connected to the success or failure within a seventeen-day
period. Putin must be proud of how he has transformed the town of Adler from a
wetland and cooperative state farm to a premier Olympic venue.
Putin has boasted that this was the largest construction
project in the world, yet still met an ambitious deadline in accordance with
the IOC, uprooting thousands of families who had no option, but to get out of
the way of the bulldozers (Craggs). In addition, this seven-year construction
project is undeniably Putin's St. Petersburg; the fifty-five-billion-dollar
remodel of Adler and the Caucus Mountains is reminiscent of the construction of
St. Petersburg by Tsar Peter the Great in 1703. It took Peter the Great nine
years to build his new capital of Russia, with mostly peasants and soldiers,
working in very primitive conditions and dying in great numbers. This area was
considered of high strategic importance, so Peter the Great continued
constructing the city, despite all the losses and extra expenditures (Massie,
524).
For Putin, this great Olympic venue was built to grow and
promote the Black Sea for summer vacations and the Caucus Mountains' for alpine
skiing in the winter. Unlimited sums of money were spent to build this empire
as to entice the populace within Russia. Putin's type of capitalism is
undoubtedly at work here. He has authorized the building of a mecca for the
masses with high-capacity high-rise apartments. These structures are similar to
the concrete-block Khrushchevki style residences that are cramped and
uncomfortable, surround the outskirts of Adler, and were meant to house
journalists and visitors. However, wild dogs in the Olympic Park, polluted air
from burning trash, the constant roar of diesel trucks, moving debris, and a
lack of proper safety equipment has made this Winter Olympics the most
expensive to date, but less than entirely successful in promoting the success
of Russia’s economy. This outcome has dulled the luminescent shine of Putin's
Olympic creation.
The games' opening ceremonies were a better example of the
image of Russia that Putin hoped to deliver. The grandiosity of the opening
ceremonies at Fisht Olympic Stadium in Adler was artfully classic and modern in
its presentation and stature. Particularly noteworthy was the music from
Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's music from Swan
Lake, and the Russian Internal Affairs Choir singing "Get Lucky" from
Daft Punk. Visually the artists Kandinsky, Chagall, and Malevich were on
display as well, and the works of writers Tolstoy, Pushkin, and Chekhov were
also prominent in this extravaganza (Services). Mendeleev and his
periodic table and Sputnik, the first Russian satellite, also appeared in
cosmic splendor.
About 3.5 billion people around the world watched the
opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Sochi (Pravda), which was produced by
Konstantin Ernst, the general director of Channel One, Russia's largest
state-controlled television network (Yaffa). As a spectator, one noticed the
grandeur of this event, which seemed to be played for Putin's center stage
position in this grand stadium. Since these are Putin's Olympics, as the media
and social networks brand them, one could assume that this command performance,
as it were, was directed at Putin, with all the care and authority that any
authoritarian figure would command in the Russian Federation.
After the opening ceremony, a political storm was brewing in
the Ukraine and Crimea, which created a narrative that could not have been
envisioned by Vladimir Putin. Ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, a
supporter of the Russian government, fled Ukraine under the threat of civil and
political unrest. As Bob Costas was beginning his commentary in prime time, the
Ukraine crisis was in full swing. Costas' two-and-a-half-minute observations
and opinion clearly summarized the anguish and suffering the Ukrainian people
were undergoing as a muted celebration was taking place in the medals plaza in
Sochi after Ukraine's gold medal victory in women's team biathlon relay.
Costas's inference acknowledges protesters being cut down by gunfire, as teams
of protesters carried bodies away under sniper fire. However, Costas later
capitulated and recognized the accomplishments and success of the Sochi
Olympics--without any terrorist attacks—with a gracious and hospitable Russian
host and a newly modern retrofired Olympic Park. But as Costas has pointed out,
this does not justify the brutal treatment of Ukraine citizens in the midst of
a political uprising with the thugs of Putin to squelch the political
aspirations of the Ukraine citizenry.
As these events were unfolding, Putin and the Russian
Federation stood by (somewhat helplessly) as the largest sports media spectacle
was taking place. This volatile situation, with rioting in the streets in Kiev
and the watchful eye of millions of television viewers across the media
landscape, held the Russian Federation in limbo, as the Olympics evolved over a
seventeen-day period. During this sports spectacle, there has been speculation
that Putin was moving behind the scenes politically to liberate Crimea from
Ukraine. Unquestionably, if not for the Sochi Olympics, the Russian government
would have had a more aggressive stance both militarily and politically towards
the unfolding instability in Crimea and acted accordingly to quell the
insurrection that was taking place in the Ukraine.
Putin considered this year's Winter Olympics as being the
largest in the history of the Winter sport -- with almost 670 hours of
competition that included twelve new winter events which created a daunting
technical and logistical task for the newly-formed Sochi Organizing Committee
of the XXII Olympic Winter Games. However, this required transforming a swamp
farmland into the Olympic coastal cluster in the Russian Riviera region of
Sochi. Before the Winter Olympics, Sochi lacked major venues, housing, and
transportation options, so its preparation and transformation took seven years.
For years, environmental groups have called for more attention to the damages
this region's natural reserves incurred due to the large-scale construction of
sports facilities, residential areas, tunnels, roads, and railways needed for
Sochi to host the Winter Olympic games.
In a somewhat out-of-character instance, the destruction
machine that is Putin’s Olympics managed to preserve only one original site in
Sochi: the Old Believers' cemetery, which is now located in the middle of the
Olympic Park (Koekamp). In addition, the Sochi Olympic Committee was also
embroiled in multiple human rights violations as reported by Human Rights
Watch, with 700-immigrant construction workers complaining of nonpayment of
wages and excessive delays in payment of wages totaling to eight million dollars
(Russia).
Even with the current state of affairs, and despite fears of
an all-out invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces, the continuing human
rights violations in Sochi, and the looming threats of terrorist attacks from
Caucus rebels, NBC celebrated the first Sunday night of the Olympic broadcasts
with record viewership that surpassed the Winter Olympics held in Calgary,
Canada, with more than eight million viewers (Koddolojy). Clearly, NBC
understands its audience’s lack of appetite for political turmoil, cultural
genocide, and environmental eradication; thus, it avoids these controversial
subjects. But, as Putin’s patriarchal stranglehold continues to tighten around
the neck of the Eurasian regions. Sports media broadcasters, similarly to NBC,
continue to reflect Putin’s dominant and aggressive influences by avoiding many
of the contentious issues his regime has inflicted on the Russian people and
the Olympic spirit of Sochi. Indeed, the lack of investigative journalism and
factual reporting concerning numerous egregious acts committed during Putin’s
Olympic reign of terror only reinforces his tyrannical thirst for power and
control. Putin’s “free pass” is reflected in the miniscule amount of broadcast
time allotted to his political and cultural cleansing. Granted, NBC wanted to
be a gracious guest in their host country. But, they do bear some
responsibility for not communicating the grievous actions of Putin’s regime in
this time of volatility. Indeed, within the NBC family of cable, broadcasting,
and interactive distribution, there could have been an investigate unit,
similar to HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumble, who tackles controversial
subjects such as marijuana use in the NFL, the NFL’s accountability in the
concussion crisis, or more poignantly, Bernard Goldberg reporting in Sochi for
a behind-the-scenes look at the preparations of the 2014 Winter Olympics and
the allegations of massive corruption schemes tied to the Sochi Olympic Games
(Goldberg).
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